Meet the team

Our specialist expertise lies in the fields of property development and planning, economics and natural resources management, landscape architecture and health research. We also have industry leading project management, tool and product development capabilities.

Therese Karger-Lerchl, who is co-leading the development of the toolkit at Vivid Economics said, “Once we were able to provide credible estimates for valuing London’s parks, we realised the importance of being able to roll out this idea so that all green infrastructure in urban spaces could be accurately valued. This will help those investing in and maintaining green infrastructure to make informed decisions about how they spend their budgets.”

Dr Becca Lovell at the University of Exeter noted, “There is mounting evidence of just how crucial green space is to the health and happiness of urban people, particularly for people in more deprived communities. This project will take this evidence and transform it into a practical and comprehensive decision-making toolkit for land owners and managers. The toolkit will help protect existing provision and promote the integration of good quality green space into new developments.”

John Haxworth of Barton Willmore added, “Working closely with developers and local authorities across the UK, the pressures upon our open spaces are huge, but it is notoriously difficult to demonstrate the value they add comprehensively. We believe this toolkit can build upon the plethora of academic work in this area, marrying it with experience of public and private sector needs, to provide an effective methodology for calculating and more fully understanding the benefits and effectiveness of open space, in a manner way beyond quantum alone.”